Search / roland cross

Portrait, oil on composition board

Roland Wakelin was born in New Zealand and studied at the RAS school in Sydney under Dattilo Rubbo from 1912 to 1914.

1 portrait in the collection

Roland Wakelin

In their own words

Recorded 1961 or 1962

Self portrait in green hues, c. 1962

Roland Wakelin

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Philip Bacon AM 2001
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Carlotta, Kings Cross (Les Girls), 1970-1971

Rennie Ellis

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 2006

The Bee Gees, Kings Cross, 1970-1971

Rennie Ellis

Purchased 2021

Geoffrey Roland Robertson, 1999 (printed 2022)

Polly Borland

Purchased 2022

Cross-cultural wedding

John Benavente

Portrait, offset lithograph on paper

Boy with surfboard cross: David Rastovich

Boy with surfboard cross: David Rastovich, 1999 (printed 2005)

Scott Redford

Gift of the artist 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Rosaleen Norton, Witch of Kings Cross, 1970-1971

Rennie Ellis

A cross-curriculum learning resource

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006

Awesome Achievers

Learning resource archive

What makes someone awesome? And how does a portrait tell a person's story? Bring your students up close and personal with some great Australians. For upper primary school students.

Charles Kingsford Smith and crew of the Southern Cross before the east-west crossing of the Atlantic, June 1930

Charles Kingsford Smith and crew of the Southern Cross before the east-west crossing of the Atlantic, June 1930, 1930

International News Photos Inc

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Purchased 2019

Aussies All

Rennie Ellis photographs the self-proclaimed 'Witch of Kings Cross'.

Roy de Maistre CBE

Roy de Maistre (Roi (Leroy) de Mestre) CBE (1894-1968), painter, studied music at the Sydney Conservatorium, but was also a student at the RAS School with Dattilo Rubbo and later the Sydney Art School with Julian Ashton.

1 portrait in the collection

Harry Hudson

Harry Hudson (1907-1974) was a Melbourne-based painter. His work was included in a number of group exhibitions at the Bridget McDonnell Gallery, Carlton in the 1980s along with those of such notable artists as Roland Wakelin, Grace Cossington-Smith and James Gleeson.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Ulm

Charles Ulm (1898-1934) began work as a clerk in a stockbroking office after he left school, but enlisted under a false identity in the 1st Battalion of the AIF just before his 16th birthday.

2 portraits in the collection

Carol Spencer AM

Carol Spencer AM (b. 1943), known as Carlotta, is a cabaret performer, television personality and LGBTIQ+ advocate.

1 portrait in the collection

Rosaleen Norton

Portrait, pastel on paper

Rosaleen Norton (1917-1979) self-proclaimed witch and artist, is now best remembered as the woman whose perverse influence contributed substantially to the downfall of conductor Eugene Goossens.

1 portrait in the collection

Roi de Mestre (Roy de Maistre), c. 1930

Jean Shepeard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

Renato Colangelo

Vox pops

My process uses long exposures with analog cameras. This is shot on a medium format camera and I use a type of filter system on the back of the camera to create the juxtaposition of the frame that you see, and the cross in the middle.

Love dogs

Renee Nowytarger

Portrait, cast plaster, patinated

Captain Ulm, 1932

Enid Fleming

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Sydney Airports Corporation 2001

Lt. A.R.Cutler VC, 1943

Dora Toovey

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Cutler family 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Vipoo Srivilasa

Artists and Collectives

Vipoo Srivilasa is a Thai-born, Naarm/Melbourne-based artist, ceramicist and arts activist often exploring cross-cultural and migration experiences.

Ethel Anderson and her daughter, Bethia, c. 1912

G.W. Lawrie

Gift of Mrs SM Asplin 2011

Leonora Carrington, St. Martin d'Ardèche, France

Lee Miller

Portrait, ciment fondu, patinated

Christopher Bassi

Artists and Collectives

Known for his representational painting, Meriam and Yupungathi man Christopher Bassi, based in Meanjin/Brisbane, addresses issues surrounding cultural identity, alternative genealogies and colonial legacies.

Anthony Dattilo Rubbo, 1935

Arthur Murch

Purchased 2000

Owen Yalandja, 2009

by Stephen Oxenbury

Geoffrey R. Robertson AO KC

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Geoffrey Roland Robertson AO KC (b. 1946), barrister, academic and defender of human rights, grew up in Sydney, attending Epping Boys' High and then the University of Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir James Gobbo, 1983

Paul Fitzgerald AM

Gift of Mercy Health and Aged Care 2006

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Captain Charles Ulm, 1961

Sir William Dargie CBE

Gift of the Sydney Airports Corporation 2001

Hugh Kingsley Ward

Hugh Kingsley Ward MC (1887-1972), bacteriologist, was educated at Sydney Grammar and the University of Sydney before being awarded the Rhodes Scholarship in 1911 and proceeding to Oxford.

1 portrait in the collection

Vicki Lee and Billy Higginson, 2010

by Jim Rolon

Anthony Dattilo Rubbo

Anthony Dattilo Rubbo (1870-1955) was born in Naples and received classical art training in Italy.

1 portrait in the collection

Carlos Soyos, 34, a migrant from Guatemala City, Guatemala and his son, Enderson Soyos, 8, take a self portrait at El Buen Samaritano migrants shelter, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico

Adam Ferguson

Michel Lawrence

Previous exhibition, 2002

Michel Lawrence (b.1948) was born in Kings Cross, Sydney and raised in Canterbury, Melbourne.

3 portraits in the collection

Contemporary Australian Portraits

Contemporary Australian Portraits is a cross section, a sampling, of some of the present-day directions in Australian portrait practice

Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire

Portrait, cast plaster, patinated

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772–1844), naturalist, established the principle of ‘unity of composition’.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, 1932

Enid Fleming

Gift of the Sydney Airports Corporation 2001

Ethel Anderson

Ethel Anderson (née Mason, 1883-1958), writer and artist, was an important figure in the Sydney modern art scene of the 1920s and 30s.

2 portraits in the collection

Wyattt, 2012

by Daniel Arnaldi

Previous exhibition, 2001

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024

Upcoming exhibition

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Polly Borland

Australians

Polly Borland: Australians, is an exhibition of 54 new portraits of significant Australians who have made a contribution to British life and who have largely made their home or based their professional life in the UK

Enid Fleming

Enid Fleming was a pupil of Rayner Hoff's at the East Sydney Technical College at the time these works were made (Hoff and several of his other students were working on the Anzac Memorial at the time).

2 portraits in the collection

George Lambert

George Lambert (1873–1930), artist, was born in St Petersburg and lived in Germany and England before coming to Australia with his family at the age of fourteen.

7 portraits in the collection

New South Wales State Repatriation Board

Sir Mark Sheldon

Sir Mark Sheldon (1871-1956), businessman, was the Chairman of the first Repatriation Board of NSW.

1 portrait in the collection

Kelly Dixon

Kelly Dixon is one of Australia's best-known bush balladeers. His poems have been set to music by some of Australia's leading country music stars - including Slim Dusty, who recorded Kelly's classic "Leave Him Out There in the Longyard." Kelly's verses have been collected in the books From a Drifter's Pen and From Under the Cross.

1 portrait in the collection

Joy Warren

Joy Warren OAM (1922-2015), gallerist, was the owner-director of Canberra’s Solander Gallery from 1974.

1 portrait in the collection

Rev. Fred Nile, Festival of Light, Sydney

Fred Nile MLC

The Rev. Fred Nile MLC (b. 1934) Leader of the Christian Democratic Party was born and raised in King's Cross, Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Paul Worstead

Paul Worstead (b. 1950) is a conceptual artist, poster maker, T-shirt and fabric designer.

2 portraits in the collection

Who’s that lady?, 2014

by Ferne Millen

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2010

Golden boy

Dr Christopher Chapman examines Scott Redford's photographic portrait of Australian surfer David 'Rasta' Rastovich.

Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe

Shirley Purdie

Previous exhibition, 2020

Using ochres collected on her country in Western Australia’s East Kimberley, Shirley Purdie’s self-portrait is a kaleidoscope of traditional Gija stories and Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) passed down to her.

John Perceval painting 'Veronica and the Conspirators'

John Perceval painting 'Veronica and the Conspirators', 1967

Mark Strizic

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Kelly Dixon, Tent Hill, Qld, 2004

John Elliott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Frank McIlwraith

Frank McIlwraith was the London representative for the Australian periodical Smith's Weekly in the late 1930s.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Elizabeth Maud Chomley OBE

The portrait of Patrick White by Brett Whiteley

Mary Elizabeth Maud Chomley OBE (1872–1960) has been described as the 'divine angel of mercy' for Australian prisoners of war during the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

White Whiteley

Previous exhibition, 2012

Eleven works by Brett Whiteley, centred around his scintillating 'Patrick White at Centennial Park 1979-1980'.

Andor Meszaros

Andor Meszaros came to Australia from Hungary in 1939. His son, Michael, was born here.

4 portraits in the collection

Hon. Jim Carlton AO

Portrait, cast bronze, patinated

Hon Jim Carlton AO (1935-2015), a Liberal Party politician, represented the Sydney electorate of Mackeller in the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1994.

1 portrait in the collection

Sean Slattery

Vox pops

This is Davide Di Giovanni and he was a principal dancer for the Sydney Dance Company for six or seven years. He got in touch with me to do some video work together and he was just so amazing.

Bust of Frank McIlwraith, 1937

Barbara Tribe

Gift of the Estate of the late Barbara Tribe 2009

Western Australia (Sir Frederick Bedford)

Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford GCB GCVO

Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford GCB GCVO (1838–1913) was governor of Western Australia from 1903 to 1909.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith MC AFC

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith MC AFC (1897- last seen 1935) and Captain Charles Ulm (1898-last seen 1934) together founded Australian National Airlines.

3 portraits in the collection

Dorothy, 1990 (printed 2013)

Michael Riley

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

Purchased 2013

Western Australia (Sir Frederick Bedford), 1903

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Purchased 2015

AñA Wojak

AñA Wojak describes themselves as a 'cross-disciplinary artist working in performance, painting, assemblage, installation and theatre design, with a particular interest in site-specificity, ritual and altered states'.

1 portrait in the collection

John Frith

John Frith, cartoonist, was born and schooled in England before coming to Sydney in 1929.

4 portraits in the collection

Patrick White with Tom Jones, 1956

Axel Poignant

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Happiness is... extreme and unapologetic

Devotion

A glamorous, glorious visual assault

Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851

Sir John O'Shanassy

Sir John O’Shanassy KCMG (1818–1883), politician and businessman, arrived in Melbourne from Ireland in 1839.

3 portraits in the collection

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin)

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin) (1912-1996), Kija visual artist, spent much of his life in and around his country near Bedford Downs station in WA.

1 portrait in the collection

Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG

Portrait, woodcut on paper

Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG (b. 1978), former Australian Army soldier, is the recipient of the Medal for Gallantry in 2006, the Victoria Cross in 2011 and the Commendation for Distinguished Service in 2013.In 2017, Roberts-Smith’s military service came under scrutiny as a result of an inquiry – commonly known as the Brereton Report – into questions of unlawful conduct on the part of Australian military personnel in Afghanistan.

1 portrait in the collection

Patrick White, 1990

Rick Amor

Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Wanted: social opposites for like-minded kink

It's Complicated

‘Scandalous conduct’

Dame Mary Gilmore, 1961

Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Patrick White, 1987

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Eugene Goossens, c. 1954

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Tilman Ruff, 2019

Nikki Toole

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2001

Purchased 2019

String of Pearls

Andrew Sayers discusses the portrait of Dr Joan Croll AO by the Australian artist John Brack.

Rennie Ellis

Aussies All

Previous exhibition, 2006

Rennie Ellis: Aussies All is a celebration of the life and work of the late Australian photographer Rennie Ellis.

Ben Roberts-Smith, 2017

Julian Kingma

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Commissioned in 2018 with funds raised through the 2020 project

John O'Shanassy, c. 1860

an unknown artist

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Peter Allen

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Peter Allen (1944–1992), singer/songwriter and entertainer, was born Peter Allen Woolnough in Tenterfield, NSW.

1 portrait in the collection

A Vanquished Knight "Wroth with Kilmore" [The Hon. John O'Shanassy, K.C.M.G.], 1874

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Eugene Goossens, c. 1954

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Betty Churcher, 2008

Adam Knott

Portrait, pen and ink on book page

Purchased 2013

Self portrait, 1949

Louis Kahan AO

Gift of Dr Gene Sherman AM and Brian Sherman AM 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

More about the National Photographic Portrait Prize

Comments from our judges and information about entering the 2017 Prize.

Tilman Ruff AO

Tilman Ruff AO (b. 1955), infectious diseases and public health physician, was a founder of ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.

1 portrait in the collection

The Honourable J.J. Carlton with Cravat, 2000

Esther Erlich

Gift of an anonymous donor 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Latai Taumoepeau

Artists and Collectives

Latai Taumoepeau, based on Gadigal Country, makes live-art-work drawing her faivā (temporal practice) from her homelands, the Island Kingdom of Tonga, centres Tongan philosophies to make visible the impact of climate crisis in the Pacific.

Justin O'Brien

Justin O'Brien (1917-1996) was one of the major Australian artists of his generation.

3 portraits in the collection

Jon (Jon Muir), 2008

Ian Darling AO

Gift of the artist 2010

Dame Helen Blaxland DBE

Portrait, etching, hand coloured on paper

Dame Helen Blaxland DBE (1907–1989), conservationist and fundraiser, studied at the Julian Ashton School of Art in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

The great South Sea caterpillar transformed into a Bath Butterfly (Sir Joseph Banks)

The great South Sea caterpillar transformed into a Bath Butterfly (Sir Joseph Banks), 1795 (printed 1851)

James Gillray

Gift of Douglas Stewart Fine Books 2013

Thea Anamara Perkins

Portrait, graphite on paper

Thea Anamara Perkins (b. 1992) is an Arrernte/Kalkadoon artist whose practice incorporates portraiture and landscape to depict authentic representations of First Nations peoples and Country.

1 portrait in the collection

Harold Holt, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

R. Ian Lloyd

Ian Lloyd was born in Canada and studied photography at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and Brooks Institute in California.

5 portraits in the collection

Wesley Stacey

Wesley Stacey (1941–2023), photographer, was an apprentice silk screener and studied drawing and design at East Sydney Technical College in the early 1960s before working as a graphic designer and photographer in Sydney and London.

3 portraits in the collection

Dave Tacon

Portrait, inkjet print on rag paper

Dave Tacon (b. 1976) is a Shanghai-based photographer, director, producer and writer who specialises in reportage, features and portraiture.

18 portraits in the collection

Paddy Jaminji, 1986

Martin van der Wal

Purchased 2005

The Awakening (Self portrait), 1946

Vlase Zanalis

Portrait, oil on masonite

Purchased 2015

Patrick Francis Moran

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on composition board

Patrick Francis Moran (1830-1911), orphaned at 11, was sent from his native Ireland to Rome, where a relative was rector of the Irish College.

2 portraits in the collection

Tribute

Betty Churcher

Magazine article, 2015

Betty Churcher AO (1931–2015), gallery director, author, painter and lecturer, was educated in Brisbane before studying art in London.

Chrissy Amphlett "Temperamental", 1989

Ivan Durrant

Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Mr George Watson

George John Watson (1829–1906), racing entrepreneur, was born at Ballydarton in Co.

1 portrait in the collection

Louis Kahan AO

Louis Kahan (1905-2002) was born in Vienna, Austria to Jewish parents.

63 portraits in the collection

Joan Kerr

Joan Kerr (1938-2004), art historian, writer and lecturer, was responsible for several key reference texts on Australian art.

1 portrait in the collection

Antonia Blaxland

Antonia Blaxland (1929-1989), photographer, was the great-great granddaughter of Gregory Blaxland, leader of the successful Blue Mountains expedition in 1813.

1 portrait in the collection

Chester Porter QC

From the age of thirteen Chester Porter QC (1926–2021) knew he wanted to be a barrister.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Hudson Fysh KBE DFC

Portrait, oil on masonite

Sir Hudson Fysh KBE DFC (1895-1974) was one of Australia's great aviation administrators.

3 portraits in the collection

Study for a portrait of Dame Merlyn Myer DBE

Study for a portrait of Dame Merlyn Myer DBE, 1960s

Sir William Dargie CBE

Gift of the Estate of Marion Orme Page 2016

Margaret Fink, 1975

Lewis Morley

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Mary Chomley, 1909

Violet Teague

Portrait, oil and hand-stitching on canvas

Purchased with the assistance of funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC 2021

A man and his music: Peter Weiss and the Australian Chamber Orchestra

A man and his music: Peter Weiss and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, 1995

Kerrie Lester

Gift of Peter Weiss AO 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Shirley Purdie

Shirley Purdie (b. 1947) is a senior Gija artist at the Warmun Art Centre who has been painting for more than twenty years.

1 portrait in the collection

Paquita Mawson, late 1940s

Ingrid Erns

Gift of Gareth Mawson Thomas and Pamela Karran-Thomas of the Mawson family 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Dame Helen Blaxland, 1986

Portrait, coloured chalk on artist board

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lieutenant Colonel Kathleen A. L. Best, 1943-1944

Charles Wheeler

Purchased 2019

The spirit of the gift

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers celebrates the support given to the Gallery by Gordon and Marilyn Darling.

Portrait of Augustus Leopold Küper, 1823

Johann Paul Georg Fischer

Portrait, watercolour over pencil on artist board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

The Bath Butterfly

The caricaturist and engraver James Gillray's biting satires about Sir Joseph Banks.

Emily Kame Kngwarreye with Lily, 1993

Jenny Sages

Purchased 1998

Bill Robertson CBE MC

Bill Robertson CBE MC (1917-2011), public servant, was educated at Melbourne Grammar and Oxford, where he graduated from the school of Natural Philosophy in 1939.

1 portrait in the collection

Chrissy Amphlett

Christina 'Chrissy' Amphlett (1959–2013), singer/songwriter, was best known for her energetic performances as the lead singer of rock band the Divinyls, often in her trademark school uniform and fishnet stockings.

1 portrait in the collection

Gideon Obarzanek, 2012

Dave Tacon

Purchased 2012

General Cosgrove, Dili, East Timor 1999, 2006

Rick Amor

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Andrew Cannon and L. Gordon Darling AC CMG 2006

Peter Allen, 1980

William Yang

Purchased 2003

Francisca Adriana (Paquita) Mawson OBE

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on ivory

Lady Francisca Adriana (Paquita) Mawson OBE (1891–1974), community worker and writer, was born in London and came to Australia when her father, mining engineer Guillaume Daniel Delprat, became the General Manager of the Broken Hill Proprietary Co.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Windeyer, 1850s

an unknown artist

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Louis Nowra

Carlo Pellegrini, Vanity Fair Magazine

Louis Nowra (b. 1950), writer, grew up in dire family circumstances on a housing commission estate in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Men of the Day No.19 "A great Med'cine-Man among the Inqui-ring Redskins" (Thomas Henry Huxley), 1871

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Purchased 2015

Dame Mabel Brookes, c. 1955

Sir William Dargie CBE

Gift of Rodney Davidson AO OBE 2014. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Colonel Kathleen Annie Louise Best OBE RRC

Kathleen Best OBE RRC (1910–1957), nurse and officer, grew up in Sydney where she completed nursing and midwifery training.

1 portrait in the collection

Cut and thrust

Environmental activists

Previous exhibition, 1999

Harry Butler, Tim Flannery and Ian Kiernan

A Tribute to William Dobell

Adapted from A Tribute to William Dobell an exhibition presented by the Australian National University's Drill Hall Gallery in association with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, The National Gallery of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial. Dobell is of course, celebrated for his achievements in portraiture, winning the Archibald prize (1943, 1948 and 1959), the Wynne Prize (1948), and representing Australia at the 1954 Venice Biennale. Curator Mary Eagle concludes her essay in the catalogue of the exhibition thus, "Overall I see a dissonance in Dobell’s art and life

Margaret Fink AO

Under the Milky Way tonight

Margaret Fink AO (b. 1933), film producer, was a key figure in the renaissance of Australian cinema in the 1970s.

2 portraits in the collection

The Go-Betweens, London, c.1986 Warwick Orme

Oz Indie

Portrait, computer generated image, synthetic polymer paint and gel-glitters on polyester canvas

It was the era of recording your favourite songs directly from the radio; of seeing the latest acts and clips on Countdown; and when the Aussie bands you saw on TV and heard in the charts were the ones you could see live at the pub.

Arizona 250 GT Major General Liz Cosson, 2013

Richard Larter

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2013

Lord Casey, c. 1932

Charles Wheeler

Portrait, conté, brush and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2003

Studio

Australian Painters Photographed by R. Ian Lloyd

Previous exhibition, 2007

Studio: Australian Painters Photographed by R

Juno Gemes

Photographer and social justice activist Juno Gemes (b. 1944) has spent much of her long career documenting the lives and struggles of First Nations people.

38 portraits in the collection

Ria Murch

Magazine article by John McDonald, 2007

Ria Murch (1918-2014), writer and muse, was brought up in King’s Cross and attended the Thosophist school in Mosman before acquiring secretarial skills at Miss Hales Business College.

1 portrait in the collection

Artists' space

Studio: Australian Painters Photographed by R. Ian Lloyd presents 61 of some of Australia’s most respected and significant painters working in the studio environment.

Richard Gardiner Casey KG GCMG CH

Richard Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey of Berwick, Victoria and the City of Westminster KG GCMG CH (1890-1976), politician and statesman, was born in Brisbane and educated in Melbourne and at Cambridge.

3 portraits in the collection

Dame Margery Merlyn Baillieu Myer DBE

Dame Margery Merlyn Baillieu Myer DBE (1900–1982), philanthropist and fundraiser, was the daughter of a hotelier, George Baillieu.

1 portrait in the collection

Betty Churcher AO

(Elizabeth) Betty Churcher AO (1931–2015), gallery director, author, painter and lecturer, was educated in Brisbane before studying at the Royal College of Art in London.

3 portraits in the collection

Mandawuy Yunupingu AC

Dr Mandawuy Yunupingu (1956–2013), singer songwriter, was the lead singer of Australia's pre-eminent Aboriginal band, Yothu Yindi.

2 portraits in the collection

Wes Stacey, Kurnell, Sydney, 1973 (printed 2000)

David Moore

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001

Dr Stella Cornelius AO OBE

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and gouache on 64 canvas boards (nos. 108101-108164)

Stella Cornelius AO OBE (1919–2010), businesswoman and peace activist, was born to Jewish parents in Sydney and grew up moving around New South Wales as her father, a draper and tailor, found work during the Depression.

1 portrait in the collection

Study of Louis Nowra, 2018

Imants Tillers

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018

Three ways to look at a photograph

NPPP 2019 exhibition essay

Dr Christopher Chapman, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2019 Prize.

Karla Dickens

Karla Dickens (b. 1967), Wiradjuri artist, graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the National Art School in Sydney in 2000 and has since built a diverse practice across the mediums of painting, photography, mixed media and installation.

2 portraits in the collection

Zhou Xiaoping

Zhou Xiaoping, born and educated in China, is a Melbourne-based artist.

1 portrait in the collection

Stevie Wright, 1975 (printed 2011)

Gary Ede

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Herbert Benjamin George Larkin CBE

Magazine article by Beatrice Thompson, 2007

Herbert Benjamin George Larkin CBE (c. 1871- 1944), shipping administrator, came to Australia from England and joined the office of the Australian Steam Navigation Company.

1 portrait in the collection

Bern Emmerichs

Contributing artists

Born: 1961, Melbourne
Works: Melbourne

Portrait of Kym Bonython/Portrait of Mr Bonython's speedway cap

Somewhere to hang your cap

A pair of portraits by John Brack; Portrait of Kym Bonython and Portrait of Mr Bonython's speedway cap combine to create a quirky depiction of their subject.

To Look Within

Self Portraits in Australia

Previous exhibition, 2004

This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of self-portraits in Australia, from the colonial period to the present

Cardinal Moran, 1886-1888

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Portrait, photograph on on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt

Portrait, oil on composition board

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (1813-c. 1848) went to school and university in Germany but the range of his interests was such that he never actually graduated (he was later called Dr Leichhardt in recognition of his broad scholarship).

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Hudson Fysh, 1950

Sir William Dobell OBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Australian War Memorial in association with the Fysh family 2008

Thomas Henry Huxley

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895) travelled to Australia as a member of the expedition conducted by Owen Stanley on the Rattlesnake between 1846 and 1850.

2 portraits in the collection

Valerie Kirk

Contributing artists

Born: 1957, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Works: Canberra

Herbert John Louis Hinkler

Magazine article by Emma Batchelor, 2022

Herbert John Louis (Bert) Hinkler (1892-1933), aviator, worked with a photographer and in sugar mills before joining the Queensland Aero club and taking a correspondence course in mechanics.

1 portrait in the collection

Australian Dance Party and Catapult Dance performing Connecting Stories: Innovations at the National Portrait Gallery, 2022 Lorna Sim

Let’s dance

Emma Batchelor uncovers the compelling contemporary dance made in response to the works in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

Sketch for portrait of Justin O'Brien, 1980

Bryan Westwood

Portrait, oil with fibre-tipped pen underdrawing on composition board

Gift of the Margaret Olley Art Trust 2002

References

About the exhibition curator Claire Roberts, and writers Eugene Wang and Zhang Letian.

hey, Betty (Portrait of Betty Churcher), 1990

Davida Allen

Portrait, oil on plywood

Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Elizabeth Cosson AM CSC

Elizabeth Cosson AM CSC (b.1958) enlisted in the Australian Army in 1979 and was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Major General in the Australian Army in 2007.

1 portrait in the collection

Patrick White #1, 1980

William Yang

Purchased 1998

Milestones

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

This month I turn fifty, soI am just now looking rather more closely than usual at Fiona Foley, Steven Heathcote, Brenda Croft, Russell Crowe, Jeff Fenech, Akira Isogawa, Lee Kernaghan, My Le Thi, Shona Wilson and Mark Taylor AO, mindful that they too were 1964 arrivals.

Moving pictures

The exhibition California Video at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles demonstrated how video artists expand the boundaries of portraiture.

Stanley Bruce, 1937

Barbara Tribe

Portrait, cast bronze

Gift of the artist 2000

Rick Amor

21 Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2014

Rick Amor, noblest yet most unaffected of contemporary Australian portraitists, is also a painter of enigmatic, ominous landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes that haunt the viewer like dreams, dimly-recalled.

Stevie Wright, 2003 (printed 2005)

Gregory McBean

Contemporary women artists make Australian history

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Marilyn Ball, Albatross, 2018 (detail) by Linde Ivimey

So Fine

Previous exhibition, 2018

This exhibition features new works from ten women artists reinterpreting and reimagining elements of Australian history, enriching the contemporary narrative around Australia’s history and biography, reflecting the tradition of storytelling in our country.

Portrait jug of Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1925-1928

Ashtead Potters Limited, Surrey, UK, Percy Metcalfe

Portrait, glazed ceramic

Purchased 2006

On commission

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2002

Former NPG Director Andrew Sayers discusses the art of commissioning portraits.

Prince William of Wales, by Mario Testino, 2003 publ. September 2003.
Credit: Mario Testino

Vanity Fair Portraits

Photographs 1913-2008

Previous exhibition, 2009

Vanity Fair Portraits traces the birth and evolution of photographic portraiture through the archives of Vanity Fair magazine.

Judy Cassab

The artist's diary

Previous exhibition, 2013

The artist's diary profiles six decades of Cassab's work, from the early portrait commissions of the 1950s to later paintings that have helped confirm her eminent place in the canon of Australian portraiture.

Mark Strizic

A Journey in Photography

Previous exhibition, 2004

This exhibition traces the creative output of nearly 50 years by one of Australia's landmark living photographers.

Self-portrait with guardian spirits, 2009-2010 Kate Beynon

Kate Beynon’s transcultural life and art

Phoebe Lupton profiles artist Kate Beynon, whose contemplative self portrait features in Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize.

Adrian Rawlins

Previous exhibition, 2019

Adrian Rawlins (1939-2001), poet, performer and promoter, grew up in a Jewish household in Caulfield and St Kilda.

1 portrait in the collection

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.

The Delltones, 1964 (printed 2019)

Ern McQuillan OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

About Headspace

Both making and exploring art involve a form of thinking that opens the way to multiple systems of knowing and experiencing.

Myles Nelson

Finalist interviews

It was definitely a candid encounter as was the expression on the face. It was constructed insofar as the image was deliberately taken from a distance so as to minimize intrusion and to magnify the effect of the image.

Diana Pockley

Magazine article by Eric Smith, 2004

Diana Pockley (née Longridge, 1913–2011), gardener, fundraiser and amateur historian, was born in Exeter, Devon, England and completed her secondary education in Brighton.

1 portrait in the collection

Creative space

Eric Smith describes the agony and finally the ecstasy of winning the 1982 Archibald Prize with the portrait of Peter Sculthorpe.

Sir George Hubert Wilkins

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

Sir George Hubert Wilkins (1888-1958), photographer, cinematographer, polar explorer and naturalist, spent his childhood on a farm in South Australia and became interested in photography while studying engineering and music at the University of Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

Facing Facts

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers describes the 1922 Self-portrait with Gladioli by George Lambert.

Australian Visit

Previous exhibition, 2006

The exhibition will include works of art from the NPG Canberra's permanent collection with some inward loans and aims to highlight the achievements of notable Australians.

Joan Kerr, 2004

Peter Drewett

Portrait, pokerwork on spotted gum

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of James Semple Kerr 2004

Henry Baynton Somer Gullett AM MC

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

Henry Baynton Somer ‘Jo’ Gullett AM MC (1914-1999), soldier, politician, ambassador, farmer and author, was the son of Sir Henry Gullett, who was one of the Australian official historians of the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

Four from the 30s

Australia's tradition of sculpted portraits stretches back to the early decades of the nineteenth century and continues to sustain a group of dedicated sculptors.

Masters of Fare

Chefs, winemakers, providores

Previous exhibition, 2004

Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores celebrates men and women who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia, enriching our lives with new ideas and new flavours over the past forty years.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

Previous exhibition, 2022

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Free Range Cousins, 2015 by Jennifer Stocks

Children of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2016

Learning resource

Learning resource archive

Senses, movement and imagination in portraits of children from the 2016 Prize. For Year 1 - 3 students.

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

Previous exhibition, 2010

Penny Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2016 Prize.

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.

The 'Multi Exposed Hand'

22 January 2005

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

Photographer Jozef Vissel talks about his ‘Multi Exposed Hand’ portrait of Sydney Opera House architect Jørn Utzon.

Aussies all

The exhibition Aussies all features the ecclectic portrait photography of Rennie Ellis which captures Australian life during the 70s and 80s.

Vlase Zanalis

Palassis (Vlase, Vlazio or Vlasio) Zanalis (1902–1973) arrived in Western Australia as a twelve-year-old, accompanied by an uncle, from the Greek island of Kastellorizo in 1914.

1 portrait in the collection

Melati Suryodarmo

by Hendro Wiyanto

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Born in Surakarta (Solo), Indonesia in 1969, Melati Suryodarmo’s first degree was in international relations.

Uncommon Australians

Previous exhibition, 2015

This exhibition showcases portraits acquired through the generosity of the National Portrait Gallery’s Founding Patrons, L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC.

Life class

Magazine article by Leonie Hellmers, 2004

Barbara Blackman reflects on her experiences as a life model.

Observation point

Magazine article by Zhong Chen, 2011

Zhong Chen's paintings of boys on Chinese zodiac animals and kung fu images reflect his identity as a Chinese-Australian artist.

Pat and Richard Larter, Luddenham, 1970s

Pin-ups

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

Christopher Chapman describes the art and life of Australian artist Richard Larter.

15 minutes of frame

NPG Wellington, Edinburgh and Canberra, 10th March 2021

Recorded virtual programs

Delve into the lives, loves and labour of the world’s most prominent portrait galleries in this international conversation series.

Painting shirt (Self portrait), 2011 by Kate Beynon

Observation point

Magazine article by Kate Beynon, 2011

Artist Kate Beynon reflects on the place of portraiture in her artistic career.

On active service

Magazine article by Sam Bowker, 2007

The National Portrait Gallery has acquired an evocative depiction of soldier Peter Cosgrove by the Victorian-based painter, printmaker and sculptor Rick Amor.

Study of Louis Nowra, 2018

by Imants Tillers

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AO, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018

Janet Dawson

When soulmates Janet Dawson and Michael Boddy moved from Sydney to a property, Boddy was clear about why: ‘Our marriage is one long conversation - we moved to the bush so we could talk to each other without so many interruptions.’

Missionary positions

Magazine article by Stella Ramage, 2016

Stella Ramage on Father McHardy’s Bougainville portraiture.

Cannonical

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Walter Lindrum, world-famous billiards player, was one of Australia's greatest sporting champions.

Penny Fowler AM, John Barrington AM, Heidi Victoria, Elizabeth Dibbs, Tom Mosby, Hayley Baillie, Hugo Michell, Elizabeth Pakchung, Valerie Tam

The Board

Governance & Board

The Board oversees the Gallery's strategic directions, objectives and governance.

Drawing power

Magazine article by Eileen Adams, 2006

The National Portrait Gallery joins the Big Draw, a program dedicated to promoting drawing as a tool for thought, creativity, social and cultural engagement.

Big shots

Magazine article by Djon Mundine OAM, 2017

Djon Mundine OAM brings poignant memory and context to Martin van der Wal’s 1986 portrait photographs of storied Aboriginal artists.

NPPP 2012 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Jennifer Higgie, 2022

Joanna Gilmour, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2012 Prize.

Women make history

Jennifer Higgie uncovers the intriguing stories behind portraits of women by women in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection.

A bear of great substance

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

Just in time for Christmas, Angus reflects on the most special present he has ever received.

The Stories Beneath

The Alcoa World Alumina Australia gift.

An Australian story

Magazine article by The Hon. Dr Kevin Rudd, 2009

In his speech launching the new National Portrait Gallery building on 3 December 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd set the Gallery in a national and historical context.

Hottie's Snifter to port

Magazine article by Peter Jeffrey, 2016

Peter Jeffrey trips the hound nostalgic.

Roam alone

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

Jon Muir, adventurer and Portrait Gallery Collection subject, really knows about isolation.

Adam Scott: at Sanctuary Cove Golf Course

Celebrities on the field

Robin Sellick's portraits of Australian sportspeople include Harry Kewell, Adam Scott, Shane Warne, Mark Webber and John Newcombe.

Rev. Victor B. Walls and Mrs. Walls, Trinidad, B.W.I., c.1930

The first nurse

Magazine article by Tamsin Hong, 2016

Tamsin Hong recounts the tale of Marion Smith, the only known Australian Indigenous servicewoman of World War One.

Humanæ, 2012 (work in progress) by Angélica Dass

Colour by numbers

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2019

Alistair McGhie explores the many shades of Angélica Dass’ Humanæ project.

Eko Nugroho

by Adeline Ooi

Magazine article by Leslie Ureña, 2020

Born and raised in Yogyakarta, Eko Nugroho (b. 1977) entered the art scene at the height of Reformasi.

Marian Anderson, contralto, New York, June 30, 1955 Richard Avedon

The right note

Marian Anderson’s glorious voice thrust her into stardom, and a more reluctant role as American civil rights pioneer.

Eating the seasons

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2019

Anne Sanders imbibes Tony Bilson’s gastronomic revolution.

Alfredo Esquillo Jr

by Patrick D. Flores

Born in Manila in 1972, Alfredo Esquillo Jr majored in painting at University of Santo Thomas.

Tejal Shah

by Gitanjali Dang

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Born in 1979, Tejal Shah grew up in Chhattisgarh, central India, moving to Bombay in 1995.

Helen Blaxland judging flower arrangements, c. 1940s photographer unknown

Petal to the mettle

Sarah Engledow lauds the very civil service of Dame Helen Blaxland.

Lovers of light

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

Dr Sarah Engledow traces the significant links between Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo and Evelyn Chapman through their portraits.

NPPP 2012 learning resource

Learning resource archive

Exploring select works from the NPPP 2012. For secondary students.

Layla 2020 Veronica Watson, pencil on paper. Layla 2020 Sarah McEwan, fabric, acrylic on MDF. Self portrait 2020 Layla Bacayo, drypoint on paper. Image: Sarah McEwan

Mash-up

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2022

Penelope Grist delves into an insightful portraiture exhibition that asks: How do three artists see the same sitter?

Family collective

Magazine article by Beatrice Gralton, 2013

Beatrice Gralton looks at a larger than life portrait by Chinese artist Song Dong.

Someone to watch over you

Magazine article by Carrie Kibbler, 2013

Carrie Kibbler looks at how portraiture fits into the Australian Artbank Collection.

Where the wild things are

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

Michael Desmond explores the complex portrait of Dr Bob Brown by Harold 'The Kangaroo' Thornton.

Judicial portraits

Magazine article by Leslie Moran, 2007

Leslie Moran investigates the portraits of judges in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Emmanuel at bedtime, 2011 by George Mifsud

To startle the eye

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2012

National Photographic Portrait Prize judge Joanna Gilmour previews the 2012 exhibition.

Facing Australia, Composite portrait: Facing St Lucia, 2003

Conflicting images

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2008

Michael Desmond reveals the origins of composite portraits and their evolution in the pursuit of the ideal.

Bloodlines

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2004

Michelle Fracaro describes Lionel Lindsay's woodcut The Jester (self-portrait).

Sophisticated and glamorous

Magazine article by Amanda Rowell, 2015

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

The transparent mask

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2015

Cate Blanchett and the art of acting in Rosetzky’s digital portrait.

Home and away

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Sir William Dobell painted the portraits of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones and Sir Hudson Fysh, who did much to promote the image of Australia in this country and abroad.

Portrait of Truganini, daughter of the Chief of Bruny Island, Van Diemens Land, c. 1835

Black and white history

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

English artist Benjamin Duterrau took up the cause of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania with his detailed and sympathetic renderings.

Storied portrait

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Emily Casey takes in Shirley Purdie’s remarkable self-portrait, Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe.

Expect the unexpected

Joanna Gilmour revels in accidental artist Charles Rodius’ nineteenth century renderings of Indigenous peoples.

Indexing, the art of

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

The first index I created was for my first book, and, to my astonishment, that was almost twenty-five years ago.

Starry knight

Aircraft designer, pilot and entrepreneur, Sir Lawrence Wackett rejoins friends and colleagues on the walls of the National Portrait Gallery.

Fiona McMonagle

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Fiona aims to create a dangerous situation with a flood of water on the paper, forcing each work to the point where it can fail, and then rescuing it.

In good company

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

Jean Appleton’s 1965 self portrait makes a fine addition to the National Portrait Gallery’s collection writes Joanna Gilmour.

Nadiah Bamadhaj

by Beverly Yong

Born in Malaysia in 1968, to a Malaysian Muslim father and a New Zealander mother of Scottish descent Nadiah Bamadhaj studied Fine Arts in New Zealand, and is currently working on a PhD from Curtin University, Western Australia.

Trumble's way

Magazine article by Tedi Bills, 2016

At the end of a summer break one is tempted to say that there is nothing much to report. Isn’t one restful holiday very much like another?

Love City; George Gittoes on hilltop 2013

Man of war

Tedi Bills talks to George Gittoes about canvassing conflict.

Mary, Queen of Scots by unknown artist, National Portrait Gallery of London

Portrait dendrochronology

Magazine article by Stephen Valambras Graham, 2021

Angus's latest Trumbology is accompanied by the following caveat: 'This one is reeeeeeally geeky.'

Nannultera, a young cricketer of the Natives' Training Institution, Poonindie , 1854 John Michael Crossland

The catechist and the cricketer

Stephen Valambras Graham traverses the intriguing socio-political terrain behind two iconic First Nations portraits of the 1850s.

National Portrait Gallery and Access2Arts staff presenting on audio description at the Australian Museums and Galleries Association National Conference

Our achievements to date

Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023–25

During the period 2018–20, the Gallery implemented our first Access Action Plan.

Mural of Italian/Roman actress Anna Magnani (1908–1973) with face mask, April 2020 Unknown artist

Of plague and portraits

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Corinna Cullen on the symbolic power of pandemic-related imagery over the ages.

Stigma stigmata

Angus Trumble provides poignant context for Aña Wojak’s portrait of Tony Carden.

A spectral sentience

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2019

Aimee Board reveals method, motivation and mortality in the portraiture of Rod McNicol.

Each morning when I wake up I put on my mothers face, 2000

Paths to portraiture

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

The life and art of Australian artist Jenny Sages is on display in the exhibition Paths to Portraiture.

HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, 2006 Ralph Heimans AM

Dane reign

Magazine article by Mette Skougaard and Thomas Lyngby, 2018

Mette Skougaard and Thomas Lyngby bring eloquent context to Ralph Heimans’ portraits of Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Penny Fowler AM, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM

Foundation Members

Foundation

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Penny Fowler AM, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM.

Good, bad and the ugly

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.

Adam’s Prize Apples

Magazine article by Pamela Gerrish Nunn, 2016

Pamela Gerrish Nunn explores New Zealand’s premium award for portraiture.

Beyond the bow tie

Magazine article by Peter Wilmoth, 2016

Nathan Faiman delves into the rich life story and legacy of Alan Goldberg.

Peter Wilmoth, age 12, with copies of Our World 1974 Courtesy of the author

Paper, boy

Peter Wilmoth’s boy-journalist toolkit for antagonising an Australian political giant.

Doodles of the Diva

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Three tiny sketches of Dame Nellie Melba in the NPG collection were created by the artist who was to go on to paint the most imposing representation of the singer: Rupert Bunny.

Dupain detective

Magazine article by Johanna McMahon, 2019

Johanna McMahon revels in history and mystery in pursuit of a suite of unknown portrait subjects.

Jim Cobb at Chroma factory Mt Kuring-gai, NSW, 2017 by Mark Mohell

The alchemist’s profile

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2017

John Zubrzycki meets Australian paint pioneer Jim Cobb.

Snap decisions

Magazine article by Robert Cook, 2018

NPPP judge Robert Cook provides irreverent insight into this year’s fare, and having to be a bit judgemental.

William Charles Wentworth -The Australian Patriot

The Wentworths – Hidden in Plain Sight

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2015

Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.

Material culture

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

The Rajah Quilt’s narrative promptings are as intriguing as the textile is intricate.

Dr Edward MacMahon, 1959 by William Dobell

Bill and Ted's excellent portrait.

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow on Messrs Dobell and MacMahon and the art of friendship.

One hundred days at 7pm 2015 by Fiona McMonagle

Self-effacing

Magazine article by Michael Wardell, 2016

Michael Wardell samples the fare in the University of Queensland National Self-portrait Prize.

Confessional conversations

The portraiture of Kristin Headlam

Magazine article by Fiona Gruber, 2015

Fiona Gruber investigates the work of Australian painter Kristin Headlam.

Illuminating history

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2023

Joanna Gilmour reflects on 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

The mind's eye

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2017

Christopher Chapman takes a trip through the doors of perception, arriving at the junction of surrealism and psychoanalysis.

Splendid, many-splendoured

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2021

Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.

Drawing inspiration

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2017

Christopher Chapman absorbs the gentle touch of Don Bachardy’s portraiture.

See through me

Magazine article by Penelope Grist and Rebecca Ray, 2022

Penelope Grist and Rebecca Ray talk to the artists in Portrait23: Identity about transcending modes of portraiture.

The life of Bryant

Magazine article by Tenille Hands, 2018

Tenille Hands explores a portrait prize gifted to the National Screen and Sound Archive.

Unbuttoning uniforms

Magazine article by Sharon Peoples, 2017

Sharon Peoples contemplates costumes and the construction of identity.

Hard truths

Magazine article by Jennifer Higgie, 2022

Jennifer Higgie reveals how Alice Neel reinvigorated 20th century portraiture with her honest and perceptive depictions of the human experience.

Home truths

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Despite once expressing a limited interest in the self portrait, the idea of it has figured strongly in much of Tracey Moffatt's work and has done so in some of her most distinctive and compelling images.

Naked ambition

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Joanna Gilmour dives into the life of Australian swimming legend Annette Kellerman.

What price self?

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

Jane Raffan investigates auction sales of self portraits nationally and internationally.

Asiel Timor Dei, ca. 1728 by a master of Calamarca

The Viceroyalty of New Spain

Magazine article by David Friend, 2009

European painters always enjoyed a good deal of latitude in the representation of angels, those asexual, bodiless, celestial regiments of God, so long as they were young and beautiful.

Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tony Curtis, 1997

The Vanity model

Vanity Fair Editor David Friend describes how the rebirth of the magazine sated our desire for access into the lives of celebrities and set the standard for the new era of portrait photography.

Progressive pictures

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2017

Athol Shmith’s photographs contributed to the emergence of a new vision of Australian womanhood.

Waterfall in Australia, c. 1830 by Augustus Earle

Augustus serendipitous

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

The London-born son of an American painter, Augustus Earle ended up in Australia by accident in January 1825.

20/20 launch speech

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Dr Helen Nugent AO, Chairman, National Portrait Gallery at the opening of 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.

Mugshots

A toast to the acquisition of an unconventional new portrait of former Prime Minister, Stanley Melbourne Bruce.

Little women

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.

Practising the Minuet (Miss Hilda Spong)

An actress and her fans

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

Dr. Sarah Engledow discovers the amazing life of Ms. Hilda Spong, little remembered star of the stage, who was captured in a portrait by Tom Roberts.

Mary (or Diana) Croker, mat woman, Colchester, 1823 by John Dempsey

Unknown drawer

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2017

Dempsey’s People curator David Hansen chronicles a research tale replete with serendipity, adventure and Tasmanian tigers.

Portrait of a Pioneer , 1917
Violet Teague

Off her own bat

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour profiles Violet Teague, whose sophisticated works hid her originality and non-conformity in plain sight.

Naked nostalgia

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

Penelope Grist reminisces about the halcyon days of a print icon, before the infusion of the internet’s shades of grey.

Louise Lovely feeding gulls in a park, 1969 Unknown photographer

Jewelled nights

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2017

Anne Sanders celebrates the cinematic union of two pioneering australian women.

Through thick and thin

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

Sarah Engledow likes the manifold mediums of Nicholas Harding’s portraiture.

A real Pratt

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

The death of a gentlewoman is shrouded in mystery, a well-liked governor finds love after sorrow, and two upright men become entangled in the historical record.

You are who?

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour reflects on merging collections and challenging traditional assumptions around portraiture in WHO ARE YOU.

Group photograph taken at the coronation of King George VI including Queen Elizabeth II, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Queen Mother, 12 May 1937 by Hay Wrightson

Poise and Carats

I keep going back to Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia next door, and, within the exhibition, to Princess Marie Louise’s diamond, pearl and sapphire Indian tiara (1923), surely one of the most superb head ornaments ever conceived.

Less than six degrees of separation

Lecture, 28 May 2011

Dr Anne Sanders NPG Curatorial Researcher investigated the lives of the pioneering psychologists whose portraits are featured in Inner Worlds.

Forest Creek, Mount Alexander Diggings, 1852 by S. T. Gill

The Rothschilds, the Montefiores, and the Victorian Gold Rush

Some years ago my colleague Andrea Wolk Rager and I spent several days in the darkened basement of a Rothschild Bank, inspecting every one of the nearly 700 autochromes created immediately before World War I by the youthful Lionel de Rothschild.

Some prime ministers

Sarah Engledow explores the history of the prime ministers and artists featured in the exhibition.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay